Fire sweeps German library  
  From news reports AP, Reuters  Saturday, September 4, 2004

WEIMAR, Germany As many as 30,000 priceless books may have been destroyed by a fire that swept through an historic library in this eastern German city, authorities said Friday.
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Some 6,000 historical works - including a 1534 Martin Luther Bible - were saved by a human chain, which spirited them away from the flames.
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Officials were surveying the damage caused by the fire Thursday night in the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, housed in a 16th-century rococo palace in Weimar. The fire broke out in a top floor and raged for two hours before firefighters put it out. And investigation into the cause is underway. "A piece of the world's cultural heritage has been lost forever," said Culture Minister Christine Weiss.
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During the fire, workers managed to pass 6,000 books, including travel papers by the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, to safety before having to abandon their rescue attempts when the ceiling threatened to collapse, said Hellmut Seeman, the president of the Weimar Classics Foundation. The area directly affected by the fire housed from 12,000 to 13,000 books, the library's director, Michael Knoche said. Officials were also worried about water and smoke damage to the rest of the collection. The archive includes 2,000 hand-written medieval documents, 8,400 maps and a Bible collection.
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Knoche noted that the fire was particularly tragic as the collection was to move to another site in late October.
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The library holds about a million volumes at several places in Weimar, though its main location is the palace. Its collection centers on German literature produced between 1750 and 1850. During that time, Germany's most revered writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, lived in Weimar. His house there remains a major tourist attraction. Friedrich Schiller, best known for his German classical dramas, spent the last years of his life in Weimar and died there in 1805.
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(AFP, AP)

Quoted: No fire suppression system? What were they thinking?

Pre-20th century building (castle) in the former East Germany. Probably grandfathered from sprinkler laws, which may have been a reason they wanted to move the collection.The lack of inspectors in this mess of a former Communist country, whose electrical and fire prevention infrastructure was an utter joke, probably led to this, too.

I heard that story yesterday, and it is a tragedy!!


At least they saved a lot of the books - it would have sucked to have lost a Luther bible!

Quoted: Quoted: No fire suppression system? What were they thinking? Probably didn't want to get the books wet.

We have dry fire suppression systems.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: No fire suppression system? What were they thinking? Probably didn't want to get the books wet. We have dry fire suppression systems. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... I know I have minor knowledge of some of them.

Gotcha!  

GBT

They love to burn books there in Deutschland

Quoted: They love to burn books there in Deutschland pages.cthome.net/andbookstoo/bookburn.jpg

Damn Raven… you beat me too it!

ANdy

Quoted: They love to burn books there in Deutschland pages.cthome.net/andbookstoo/bookburn.jpg

I knew somebody was going to say that..... There are no Nazi authors or collections in this library. In fact, a lot of the same works burned in the above pic were from the same authors in this library. The Nazis took German classical authors' works and tried to twist their ideas to fit their own, w/o much success, so they burned a lot of it. The Nazis were "Kunstbanausen" i.e., tacky and had no concept of art or literature. Picture an empire full of mass murderers with the German equivalent of paintings of Elvis on black velour on their walls....

I wonder if they saved Mein Kampf

Quoted: Quoted: No fire suppression system? What were they thinking? Probably didn't want to get the books wet.

???Halon???

Some 6,000 historical works - including a 1534 Martin Luther Bible - were saved by a human chain, which spirited them away from the flames.

Who would have thunked it Germans saving books form a fire.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: No fire suppression system? What were they thinking? Probably didn't want to get the books wet. ???Halon???

Halon is banned in Green and environemtally Germany… that will teach them!

Andy